committed to the writing

It's the weekend... it's 144 in the morning... I just got finished recording our podcast, The Deucecast Movie Show, had a midnight dinner at Waffle House with my fellow co-hosts Mikey and P!nky, and some old friends, Drew Morris and The Hall. Ate too much at too late a time, I probably have all kinds of acid reflux in my future, and that's going to be a terrible thing...

And I'm committed to blogging every single night in October. My Simplicity Friend Corie Clark, author of the amazing book "The Simplicity Project", talked me into it. And since I'm so erratic in blogging when I set my goals such as this, I knew I had to do it. And here I am on Day 18.

Fourteen days to go. And I'm going to bed. I had plans to write something longer, but I fell asleep with my laptop in my lap in between that last paragraph and this one.


Saturday's post to be much longer...

irrelevant failure

My friend Chris Holmes is a writer. And the other day, he wrote about failure. I commented on it. My friend Michele Clark made a comment about my comment that my comment really affected her. So I decided to take that comment and put it here. Feel free to comment.

It’s in the midst of failure in our lives, be it our jobs, our marriage, parenting or so on… we have two choices. We can sit down, in the muck, in the pile of crap that either has been created—or in my case most times, that I have created on my own—and we can whine and scream to God “See what I’m going through!?” as if He can only witness what we allow Him to see, or that He will only notice that which we make the most noise about.

The other choice is that we can stand up, being ankle deep… knee deep.. waist deep… shoulder deep… over our heads deep in the crap we surround ourselves with, and we can say, “Okay, God… I failed. Now… let’s move forward. You lead the way.”

God wants us to move forward. Still, we tend to scream, “Can’t you see what I’ve done? I can’t move forward!”

And God gently replies, “Yes, I see what you’ve done. I also know what Jesus has done, making what your failure irrelevant. Let’s go, we got junk to do.”

And so then, we walk forward. If we walk long enough, and far enough, that crap will eventually dry up and flake off little by little. There may always be a stain, but it will eventually fade too.

And in comparison to what Christ has done, your failures will continue to be irrelevant.

nothing to blog about

I sat down, laptop open, earbuds in, at a few minutes before midnight, trying to decide what to write about tonight. I've got several ideas brewing, but all will take longer than a few minutes, so while Toni Braxton's "You Mean the World to Me" plays, I am thinking...

...Toni. I loved Toni Braxton in the 90s. Well, I mean, I guess I love her now too, but back in the day, she had this perfection trifecta, this trio of amazing songs that went 1-2-3... "Another Sad Love Song"... then "You Mean the World To Me"... then "Breathe Again". If you add in "Love Shoulda Brought You Home" from the "Boomerang" soundtrack to the beginning of that list, it gets even better. She was amazing.

What you have to know about me is sometimes I revel in nostalgia. More than I should, but it's true. I think I'm like most people in saying that music... more than movies, more that TV shows, more than books... but music, takes me back.

I hear Toni Braxton and one of the aforementioned songs, suddenly I'm sitting in the Adams Student Center, talking to Ginny Kochan over cold pizza during lunch, or I'm sitting on the couch by Bobby Black, playing Mike Tyson's Punch Out on my Nintendo in my dorm room...

...so back to my ideas for a blog. Heck, it's already after midnight, and I still have no idea what to blog about. I wrote a comment on my friend Writer Chris Holmes' blog, and it was a pretty good stream of thought, so maybe I'll type that out. But that's too deep for tonight. Maybe tomorrow night...

...right now, Vertical Horizon's "Everything You Want" is on. I mean, that song? Just cool. I don't know anything else the band has ever done, not sure I want to know, but this one song is so good. It's one of The Lovely Steph Leann's favorite songs, like, ever. It's also fun to sing too--and that's important. A song has to be fun to sing to really make it enjoyable.

Come on, sing it with me... "I am everything you want! I am everything you need! I am everything inside of you that you wish you could be! I say all the right things at exactly the right time, but I mean nothing to you and I don't know why!" ...

...back to the blog. Just read an article that a house was built on the wrong lot. A dream home for a couple, to the tune of $680,000, on a lot that cost 135K when they bought it, but now appraises for 355K in the neighborhood... and it's not on that lot, it's one lot over. Cause the builders messed it all up...

...there's this movie called "Mo Money", starring Damon Wayans, Marlon Wayans, a pre-Clueless but still just as fine Stacey Dash, and a few other people you may not know. Circa 1993, it's silly and stupid, but I freakin' love that movie. My friend Tonya Windham and I traveled to Panama City Beach for the day (my hometown was 1 hour and 10 minutes from the beach, so this wasn't a long trip) during my senior year of high school... it rained some during the day, so during the rain delay, we caught a flick... and yes, it was this one. We laughed quite a bit, and for whatever reason, it stuck with me.

The only reason I bring up? The soundtrack is absolutely incredible... Janet Jackson, Luther Vandross, Ralph Tresvant, Color Me Badd and the song I'm listening to now, MC Lyte's "Ice Cream Dream." Yep, I just said "MC Lyte" and "Ice Cream Dream". Now that I'm older, I listen to the lyrics, and realize it's a little racy. Or a lot racy. But I still love it...




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..

...oh, sorry about that. OutKast's "BOB" video just came on. It's done now. Next up on the random playlist, Extreme's "Hole Hearted", which is one of my favorite 90s tunes. That takes me back to 10th grade, hanging out with my few friends back then. Of course, I had just joined the band, so I had just become a band geek.

I wasn't a popular kid in junior and high school. I mean, I wasn't un-popular, but I think I was like, second tier. You know, you had the more popular kids on top, the cheerleaders like Stephanie Phillips and the beauties of the class like Jennifer Lambert and the athletes like Michael Creech and Daniel Stephenson and even that one guy that just everyone likes, like Chris McCall.

And one level below that, you have the... the popular runner-ups, where if the popular kids can't fulfill their duties, those of us on the 2nd tier would step right in. If we are all going to a party together, I'm the guy that would get picked over some of the lesser bottom feeders in the serf group, but I'd easily get left in favor of Rodney Hornsby or Jason Smith.

By the way, Kid Rock's "Cowboy" is on right now.

Anyway, I'm okay with where I ended up in the hierarchy. It allowed me to make more friends, because I wasn't just sticking with one single group. And I still consider my closest friends, at least in my grade, to be Tonya, Chris and my buddy Greg... I was also good friends with two different Ryans in a different grade, and Jason Howell a few grades back.

"Light My Candle" from the Rent Soundtrack. Spike Lee is shooting down the street.

Then, of course, there was Julie Wise, or as I should call her, The Clouds In My Coffee Official High School Crush Julie Wise. I would imagine there are more and more newer readers to the blog, and are seeing the name "Julie Wise" for the first time here... nearly everyone has that one person that they kinda like, or kinda love for the better part of their high school years. Julie Wise was mine. More on that later...

...since I have nothing to blog about tonight, I guess I can start talking about #40forForty... or maybe it's #Fortyfor40? No, #40for40? #40440? No, that last one is just confusing.


Anyway, as Old Crow Medicine Show strums along to "Wagon Wheel", I'll just tell you that #40forForty is coming very soon. In one month.

...and I'm sorry I have nothing to blog about tonight. I failed in my writing challenge. Off to bed, I'll try again tomorrow.

buying colbie caillet

Today, Colbie Caillet's new CD, "Gypsy Heart" made it's way into my CD player this morning, and it's excellent. Today as I was driving to my office, I thought of Colbie Caillat, and how she has a new album out. I had already made up my mind that I would purchase it, and figured I would just download it...

...but I just didn't want to do that. I am okay with downloading songs, and I'm okay with borrowing a CD from someone, "ripping" or burning it to my laptop for my iPod... but if I buy a CD, I want it in my hands. I want to open the plastic with some sort of sharp tool, or stretch the plastic until it comes off. 

I want to open up the CD and pull the disc out, look at the cover art on the disc, then look at the liner notes. Are the words to the songs in the notes? (not for "Gypsy Heart") I will scan the songwriting details and see if any name pops out. (Caillet had a hand in writing all of them, and a few features Babyface Edmunds, one of my favorite R&B dudes from the 90s). Sometimes the whole packaging will have a new papery smell to it, so I take in that aroma. I scan the "thank yous", just to see if anything looks cool--and yes, sometimes I notice if they thank "Jesus", or just "God", or nothing at all.

There is just something about having the physical CD in my hand. That is, when I actually buy an entire album.  I can imagine this is how someone felt in the 70s and 80s, when buying a brand new record album, taking it home and putting on "Frampton Comes Alive!" or the latest Johnny Cash album onto the record player.


Here's her latest, called "Try"


I don’t buy much music… or should I say, I don’t buy a ton of CDs anymore. A few years back, The Lovely Steph Leann and I went through a CD purge, selling several hundred CDs, donating the ones that wouldn’t sell, and getting rid of lots of cases to put the rest in an album.

There were some that I did keep in the case, though… and we still have over a hundred CDs in towers, and probably 300 or more in a huge CD wallet. One that we never even look in anymore. And we never look in there anymore because all of those songs are my iPod. Yes, I have a 160gb Apple iPod, and it currently contains , according to the “about” screen on the iPod, 16237 songs, 174 videos and 140 various episodes of various podcasts.

And the songs are all over the map… for instance, I’ll go to songs and hit shuffle, then it the next button ten times… this is what just came up…

• Something Good This Way Comes by Jakob Dylan
• I Want It All by Ashley Tisdale, from the High School Musical 3 Soundtrack
• It’s All Coming Back to Me Now, by Celine Dion
• How Long by The Benjamin Gate.
• Every Step of the Way by The Monkees
• I Have a Dream from the Mamma Mia! Broadway Soundtrack
• Velcro Fly by ZZ Top
• Letter Home by The Forester Sisters
• Burning of the Midnight Lamp by Jimi Hendrix
• Pomp & Circumstances, March 1, 2 and 3 as performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, for Fantasia 2000

It’s a bit ridiculous, really… aside from the Celine Dion song, and maybe The Forester Sisters, I don’t know that I’ve ever actually listened to any of those songs on my iPod. Well, I’ve probably heard part of the Mamma Mia! song, but probably as I was skipping past it to get to the other songs I like better.

I remember my first CD ever… well, there were two. “The Hit Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber” as performed by the various Broadway cast members in their respective songs… and the “Pulp Fiction” soundtrack. My first box set ever was “Listen to the Band”, a retrospective collection of The Monkees. Incidentally, that was also my first purchase with my brand new Discover card. It was historic, in that it was a historically bad decision, but that’s another story for another day…

CDs have always been something of a special thing for me. I mean, vinyl records are as well, but perhaps that is more so now because they are more rare and collectable… I’m not sure how collectible Debbie Gibson’s “Electric Youth” on vinyl is, but I have it, so there’s that.

Cassettes were a little different, seemingly a little more expendable, as they seemed to have a life on them. I’ve had tapes break or get worn out before, and had to replace them, and you could copy those, taking away some of the mystique, some of the air of “you can only get this at the store” elitism of it. When I was in junior high school, I would borrow friends cassettes, record them onto a Memorex or, as my tape of choice, Sony blank cassette. Then I would walk the block to the library, pay 25 cents and make a photocopy of the tape’s liner notes. Then I would very carefully cut the black and white paper out, very carefully fold it, and then insert it into the cassette case. Though the cover wasn’t color, it was nearly as good in my mind.

I did this with Europe’s “Final Countdown” album, borrowing it from my friend Daniel Stephenson in 7th grade. A year later, he offered to sell it to me for five dollars, which I took him up on it, paying him $1 per day for a week. The cover was slightly bent, but when I asked him about it, Daniel, already a big, stocky dude, replied, “Don’t say anything about that… that happened when you did that copier thing to it.”

Looking back… well, that’s kinda ridiculous, ain’t it?

In the late 80s to the mid-90s, I also dove into the Cassette Single, or “Cassingle”, trade, collecting 204 over the course of those years. My first was Guns N Roses “Paradise City” in 1988, bought during a trip to Wiregrass Commons mall after a math tournament trip (this was a team that I didn’t make in high school)… and my last was “Crush” by Jennifer Paige in 1998, bought for $1 at some forgotten music store—Sam Goody, Coconuts, On Cue, who knows.

The Enterprise, Alabama, WalMart Supercenter was one of the first one of it’s kind in the country when it opened in the late 80s, and in front of it, in a little strip building that houses four or five small stores, was Starship Records & Tapes. My friend Greg and I would go there frequently and pick up whatever just came out… he turned me onto the Stone Temple Pilots, so I got “Core”, their first album, on cassette there, along with whatever other Cassette Single came out that I wanted. Starship was a great place… and has long since closed.

The joy of removing the plastic.. and Colbie
does the paper case, which eliminates that
annoying label that goes across the top
that makes you break your fingernails to
peel off sometimes. This is a great album

CDs used to cost anywhere from 15 to 20 bucks per, and they would come in this long box that was a musical version of potato chips. The CD was in a case the size that you see today, but it would have another six to 10 inches of packaging to it, mostly empty air. At the Walmart in Geneva, the first CD I ever picked up and held was Paula Abdul’s “Forever Your Girl” in 1990… they had about 25 different CDs behind a Plexiglas wall, with holes where you could stick your arms in and pick up the CDs for a look—but the holes weren’t big enough to fit the CDs back through, so you had to get an attendant to open up the case, and they would ring you up right there.

A few years later, they got rid of the big “long boxes” as they were called, and went to plastic casing that had to be “unlocked” by the cashier. It would encase the CD, then have another square of plastic under it, probably for presentation purposes. Contrast that with today, where you go to WalMart and see an enormous cardboard bin with 100s of CDs in it, just piled up every which way and again, with a big “ONLY $5” sign on the side.

The CD was truly my high school and college generation. Sure, I had tapes as a younger dude, but when I drove, all I wanted was a car with a CD player in it. My first several cars didn’t have that, so I had to use a cassette adapter to plug into a CD Walkman that I had on my passenger side seat—usually sitting on something soft like a t-shirt or a towel, to help cushion it from skipping too badly.

I didn’t get a CD player in my car until 2008… and ironically enough, I would love to have a tape player in my car now. I gave away all of my 100s of regular cassettes, but am stubbornly holding onto my 200+ cassette singles, even though I have absolutely no way to play them anywhere.

Don’t get me wrong… I love my iPod. Its probably one of the top five most important, most influential purchase I’ve ever made, it revolutionized the way I listen to music from the first day I bought it and loaded it up, and with the advent of podcasts and audiobooks in the last few years, it’s completely changed my entire mentality on music and what I listen to…

Ten years ago… even five years ago, really, before I got an iPhone, I had to wait until I could purchase a song or an album I wanted… but now? If I like a song, I download it immediately. Last night, I heard Taylor Swift’s new song, “Out of the Woods” had been released. So at 11pm last night, while I was waiting for something to download on my iPod, I looked on my iPhone and bought it for $1.29. And then I saw Pitbull’s “Fireball” video, so I grabbed that too. And then Taylor Swift’s video, “Mine” was on sale for 99 cents… so I spent $4.50 on music just because I wanted it.

A few weeks ago, I had a song running through my head that went something like, “LA international airport… where the big jet engines roar…” A silly song, for sure, but it was in my head… so I went to iTunes, looked it up, found it was a 70s country song by Susan Raye. Spent 99 cents and downloaded it. Listened to it twice, satisfied my nostalgia, and now its among the 16K on the iPod.

But sometimes I feel like... we've lost an era. We truly have.

And now, I'm going to listen to "Turn Your Love Around" by George Benson and "Bang Bang" by Jessie J featuring Ariana Grande, both of which I randomly downloaded today. 

the creepy like

I did just get a new iPhone recently, and just in time, too... the whole thing was about to implode. The software apparently had a glitch, and in order to fix it, you had to do a backup and a restore and then fix this and then fix that and... it was just too much work.

So, in September, The Lovely Steph Leann and I traded in our 2-year-old iPhone 4s phones, which had served us well, for a newer model--namely, the 5. Not the fancier 5c, but the 5, which is just fine. Definitely not the 6 or 6+, because that's too much.

We like to be one level behind... when the 5 came out, we upgraded our 3sg (or whatever it was called) for the 4s, and now we're up to the version 5... we figure when the iPhone 8 is released in 2016, it'll be just about time for us to get a 6... for like, 99 cents. Because that's what the 5 cost us, and the 4 before that.

My old phone was such a hassle... it took forever to load a page, especially Facebook and sometimes it wouldn't even load Instagram. And the worst part about it was the scroll delay... sometimes you would flick your fingers up and down the screen, and it wouldn't scroll... so you'd hit it again, trying to get it to move. Then, it would finally catch up, and anywhere you had hit the screen while it was frozen, it would take that tap and apply it to whatever is on the screen.

For example, I have a friend named Missi on Facebook. She has a large family, one that I joke should be a reality show (I call it "Lee & Missi Ivey + Fivey", to be aired on Saturday nights, right before "Big World, Little People with Big Hands" and right after "The Man with a 788 Pound Tumor in His Armpit"... TLC has the most wretched of shows sometimes, but I think "Lee & Missi Ivey + Fivey" would be a hit.) and she takes lots of pictures as any proud mom would.

This is the kind of family where everyone in it is gorgeous. Like, she is gorgeous. Her husband is a good looking dude, and a doctor to boot. Her kids, from her teenage son to her youngest son to the three girls in between are all gorgeous. You look at this family and either think "What a lovely family!" or "I hate that family for being so lovely", but either way, we do follow each other on Facebook and Instagram.

I scroll Instagram as I do, tapping some pictures here and there, "liking" the ones I like, and scrolling past those that don't necessarily interest me...

An interesting case study would be the psychology for "liking" pictures on Instagram and "liking" posts on Facebook. In terms of Instagram, there are some people that I just simply like nearly everything they put up. Partly because those people always post awesome pics, and partly because I feel that a "like" is a form of support... "hey, you've got a fan out here"... others, I just like pics that I like. I've seen a bajillionty sunsets, so it takes a really, really good sunset to get me to "like" it. 

I've seen two bajillionty pairs of feet or knees on a beach, or in a deck chair poolside, so I seldom like those pics at all. But if it's creative, if it's the baby picture, if you are on vacation to somewhere cool... I will "like" that thing without a moment's notice.

I mean, why else would I have liked this
picture of Fergie?  Oh, who am I kidding...
I always "like" pictures of Fergie.

Back to the family... so, one day I'm scrolling Instagram. And my phone freezes. I do the typical movement with my finger, trying to move it up and down and I'm getting nothing. Usually at this point, I'll double-click the home button (the round button on the bottom). This will bring up a series of pages that will show all the applications I have open, and I'll close them one by one. I gave this one a little more time, but finally, gave up, did the double click and waiting for the screen shots to come up.

But they didn't. 

Frustrated, I contemplated just doing the "hold down the top button and the home button at the same time" thing to restart it--an iPhone version of blowing into your Nintendo cartridge to get it to come on... unsure if it really did anything, thinking it probably did more harm than good, but at least it's something...

Kind of like when you are sitting in traffic--if there is an accident, I'd rather take a side road that might take me ten miles out of the way and 15 minutes longer drive time than to sit in traffic, going 2 miles an hour, even though I'll likely get out of the traffic soon and would be home quicker. At least I'm doing something.

Just as I started to hit the home/top button, my phone awoke... and several things happened fast. The Instagram screen scrolled at a rapid pace, up, down, then up. Then, my tapping helped me to "like" three pictures as the phone caught up on any tapping I did... the first two, I frankly don't remember, but the third, I do. 

It was Missi's daughter, a lovely teenage girl in the picture. And she was on the beach. In a bikini. And my scrolling, spastic iPhone decided it would be hilarious if I not only "liked" that picture, but that since no one else had liked it, I could be the only one. There it was, teen girl in a bikini, and under it with a heart, "@superdave310".

But before I could do anything, the application screens came up, and out of all the apps I had open--Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Words with Friends, text messages, Safari, ESPN scoreboard, Angry Birds Rio--only two disappeared... one was text messages. The other was Instagram. 

Then, the phone went off and restarted.

So I held in my hand an iPhone that had just decided to tell my friend Missi, "Hey, how are ya? I like that pic of your daughter in her bikini. Awesome!" I would have just called "To Catch a Predator" with Chris Hansen myself, but my phone was restarting.

See, it's one of those things you have to be careful of--appearing "stalkerish" in your "liking". You don't want to be the guy who likes the pic 30 seconds after it posted... I've been that guy, double tapping a picture of my friend Megan and her daughter at a picnic, or a picture of a church kid named Morgan and her sorority activities... either one will likely get 100+ likes, and you can like it while being covered by the anonymity of the phrase "103 likes"--but when it's "posted 35s ago", you look like a stalker.

Likewise, someone pointed out to me that you can't "like" a pic that's been up over a year or more. That's creepy too, like you went to look at their pictures and decided to randomly like stuff... I mean, I've done it, but only with people who know I'm only a slight stalker. Just kidding. I mean, really, just kidding.

Anyway, when it came back up, I raced to Instagram and found the pic again, and "unliked" it. By this point, there were already a half dozen "likes" on it, so I didn't even see my name, but I knew it was there. Besides, Missi likely already got a notification that said "d$ liked your post"... then again, in my mind, it said "almost 40 married d$ is creeping on your daughter".

Then, like an igmo, I sent a direct message that sounded good at the time, simply saying, "Hey, didn't mean to like that picture, sorry that was weird" but probably read as "I'm so weird, I'm so weird, I'm really strange, and I'm so weird."

Darn you, spastic scroll.

A month later, we are still friends, so I can only assume no harm, no foul. Still, a little unsettling.
Lesson?  Beware the scroll.  Always check to make sure you aren't hitting "like" on a picture that just got posted, especially if it's from a chick.  And never, ever "like" teenagers in bikinis.  Trust me.  Nothing but trouble.

why florida state should bench jameis winston

The following is my opinion. Agree, disagree, that's fine, but this is how I see it.

FSU QB Jameis Winston was informed that sometime this week, he'll be facing a disciplinary hearing concerning his alleged misconduct and charge of sexual assault from 2013. This is a total mess. While I don't always believe the NYTimes, they have released a damning report on Florida State's disciplinary--or lack thereof--actions, and there have been charges that FSU sorta, kinda hindered the whole investigation.

I don't know what to believe, to be honest with you. I'd like to believe that Winston is just a punk that does dumb stuff like steal crab legs and stand on tables and yell obscene things, like some college guys do, and not that he would actually be a rapist. However, with everything happening in our sports culture today, it would benefit all parties for Florida State to bench Winston indefinitely, until this is resolved.

The backup QB, Sean Maguire, did a dandy of a job defeating Clemson earlier this season, when Winston was suspended for a game for his little potty mouth stunt (but plays through all the sexual assault allegations), so I think Maguire would do a dandy of a job against Notre Dame. The next several FSU games wouldn't be difficult if Florida State is truly the most complete team that they are declared to be--Louisville, Virginia, Miami, Boston College and then Florida, all very winnable games.

Benching Jameis Winston allows Florida State to answer its critics, to show that it's doing something about it's latest reputation. It shows that they care about the integrity of its football team. It allows Winston to push through this latest bit of trouble without distractions, to get it resolved and be finished with all of it. 

We have witnessed Georgia suspending Todd Gurley for autographs, an NCAA illegality that forced Manziel to sit out half a game last year, and that Winston actually has had trouble with. We've seen Florida drop Treon Harris immediately, as soon as he was accused of sexual assault a few weeks ago. Gurley's fate is still up in the air, while Harris' accuser dropped the charges--Florida reinstated him immediately, but Harris still didn't play against LSU Saturday night, which probably cost the Gators the game, as Driskel was forced to play... the Gators lost late by 3. 

Jameis Winston has been accused of sexual assault and rape. The school has now been accused of being a little sketchy in their internal investigation. It's time to sit him for a game or two until everything its cleared up and the truth is discovered. 

My thoughts.

another big college day

In an effort to write something, anything, last Saturday night, I did my own little opinion piece on where we were after one of the most topsy turvy days we've had in college football in a long, long time.

So, since it's Saturday night still, and despite what the date says on this post, this was begun on October 11th, with seven minutes left in the day.

Last weekend, I harkened that we don't know jack. I still think that, but we do know a little more than we did. Observations:

First... State is King
Mississippi State is the best team in the country. They put a whoopin' on what I was considering the best team in the country, Auburn, and even though they won 38-23, it wasn't that close. State just tore up the Tigers in every way, storming out to a 21-0 lead, then holding on, answering Auburn every time they tried to mount a comeback. 

Second... I Was Wrong
Last week I said that Miss State was good, Ole Miss was lucky... well, I was wrong. Ole Miss is good. They beat up on Texas A&M, in College Station, in another game that wasn't close. I think State is still better, and Ole Miss has looked very good against two teams that are reeling (A&M this week, Alabama last week), while State has defeated three teams that, at the time, were nearly at the top of their game--LSU, A&M and Auburn.

Third... Defense? Defense, anyone?
Baylor and TCU are insane. Texas Christian was up by 24, and yet Baylor come back and win. However, as someone on Facebook put it, any team that gives up 58 points and still wins doesn't deserve to be ranked very high... true, but what a game anyway. 

Fourth... Florida State Does Their Thing
I didn't see a second of the Florida State/Syracuse game, except for what was featured in a few highlights... FSU is FSU. They look great against mediocre teams. They are the cream of the ACC, but would be probably 4th or 5th in the SEC West... maybe 2nd or 3rd in the Pac 12... and maybe 2nd or 3rd in the Big XII. But playing in the ACC, they are going to run the table. I think they'll beat a decent Notre Dame team next week and beat their chests about how good they are.

Sidebar... I started to write a paragraph about why Jameis Winston should be benched until his legal issues are resolved, but after four paragraphs, I decided that would be tomorrow's post. So look for that.

Fifth... Zona Too High
Watching Arizona and USC... I was dubious when Arizona went from like, unranked, to 10th, because they beat Oregon... and they are now looking like they aren't a Top 10 team.  Cause 60 seconds ago, they lost to USC 28-26 on the feet of three missed field goals. So there's that.

Sixth... Alabama is in Trouble
They play sloppy, the offense is a shell of what it was, and the defense is really the only thing keeping them going... but the mystique is gone. Alabama is no longer, at least for this season, the unbeatable powerhouse they once were. I think they'll end up with three losses this season... having already lost to Ole Miss, I see them losing to Mississippi State and Auburn, for a 9-3 year in which the Tide Nation loses its mind, called for Lane Kiffen's head and a small part of them start questioning if Saban can get it done anymore. Hashtag HAAAYPAAWWWLLLL... Finebaum on Monday should be a hoot.

Seventh... Sooners and Dawgs
Oklahoma and Georgia both looked good. Oklahoma let Texas hang around far too long, but because it's a rivalry game, I kinda let that go. Boomer Sooner kept Texas down, leaving them at 2-4 for the first time since 1956. Georgia, in losing Todd Gurley for his stupid suspension, just obliterated Missouri on the road, 34-0. They dominated that game in every possible way. 

Eighth... Sparty and the Ducks Again
Michigan State won their game as needed, Oregon smashed UCLA in the mouth, and only Oregon has a shot at the Football Final Four. Cause Michigan State shouldn't have given up that many points to Purdue, winning 45-31.

Finally, The Gators Are Just Awfule
LSU came into Gainesville, into The Swamp, a place where it used to be hard to win for the road team, a place that was loud and obnoxious and boisterous and now, LSU comes in and handles Florida. I watched the last part of that game in disbelief as screwed up here, screwed up there, and dropped a game winning pass into the end zone that, no joke, I could have caught. They are terrible. Will Muschamp is as good as gone.

My new top ten...
1) Mississippi State, 6-0
2) Ole Miss, 6-0
3) Florida State, 6-0
4) Baylor, 6-0
5) Notre Dame, 6-0
6) Auburn, 5-1
7) Georgia, 5-1
8) Oregon, 5-1
9) Alabama, 5-1
10) Oklahoma, 5-1

My Football Final Four this week... 1) Mississippi State... 2) Florida State... 3) Baylor... 4) Oregon or Ole Miss... though if the Pac 12 champ as 2 losses, they won't get in over a 1 loss SEC team...


Read "Why FSU Should Bench Jameis Winston"

be my guest to a happy friday

Sometimes days are just good... I mean, granted, I have a paid for car, a Lovely Steph Leann, an awesome Campbell kid, a great house and a job--that's not bragging, that's just making a point that any day my doc doesn't say "you have cancer" or my boss says "you are fired" or Amy Adams (whom I'm in love with) doesn't file a restraining order from my excessive name dropping on this blog hoping she'll Google herself one day and it will pop up and she'll email me and tell me how delighted she is to have such a fan and say that obviously we are both married so there's that, but here's my number so we can actually be friends and holy crap, I'm still talking aren't I...?

 What I mean is, you know, most days are good... some just have random fun things that make them better.

First, my online buddy Jackson made a call out to a bunch of people where, if you lipsync "Shake It Off", he'd edit them together and make a video. Myself, and my friend Kermit, made the cut.



Sure, it's me, another dude or two, and a bunch of chicks all actin' a foo'. It's like college.

 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

So, then, as I started my daily podcast listening, shooting thru ESPN's PTI, then Rush Limbaugh's Thursday show, and then The Remodeling Clay 'cast...

I started in on the Be Our Guest Podcast, a fun little show all about--what else--Disney World, with a little Disneyland tossed in. I've written in a few times with questions and thoughts, and they read one back in May, which was cool.

Today? They read an email I wrote a few weeks ago, and actually made the entire 30 minute podcast all about it.

Quite simply, I observed how Universal Studios now has a completely intertwined identity with Harry Potter, and if Disney was prepared for that to happen with Hollywood Studios, once Star Wars is implemented (no, I haven't heard anything official, but everyone knows it's a "when not if" situation).

Then I presented my own ideas for a possible fifth gate, or new theme park, that will likely never, ever happen, or at least in the next 25 years or so. And they read the entire email and then discussed all of it, sometimes funny, other times with great insight. It was pretty awesome.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
 

Taken in 2010, when The Lovely Steph Leann and I went to Disney
World with our friends Lil Sister Ashley, McQ and Ash's real sister
Bri.  Oh, and I'm standing by Tink for a reason, cause it's Tink. Woot.

Tomorrow, my "little sister" is coming to town. Little Sister Ashley, who is now married and living with her boo in Mississippi, now also with a pint sized version of them named Cadence, will be in the area for a wedding party thing, and they are staying with us.

Haven't seen Lil Sister Ashley in a few years, since our respective kids were wee little babies, so it'll be a great little "family" moment. The Lovely Steph Leann is quite fond of her too... and yes, we like Brandon, the boo of the Lil Sis.

 

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And earlier today, I got a random email with some exciting news for our podcast, The Deucecast Movie Show.

Yes, I do a podcast. Perhaps you knew that, perhaps you had no idea, but yes, I co-host a podcast all about movies--old movies, new movies, craptastic movies, great movies, and my favorite movies and so on.

Anyway, my buddy Mikey gave some great news. I can't talk about it, though... but soon. You can listen live (look for links on Facebook) on Friday, October 17th, or wait to download the show on Monday, October 19th, but we have a huge, huge announcment... and all the guys on the show--Mikey, our movie padawan P!nky and producers Tommy Mac and Shawnsharp--are pumped and can barely contain ourselves.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Random thought... "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift is fiercely battling "Pompeii" by Bastille for my favorite song of the year, though the cover of "All About that Bass" by Scott Bradlee & Postmodern Jukebox, featuring Kate Davis, is surging... that song makes me so happy.

I do like Meghan Trainor's version, but that voice doesn't match her little frame. Then again, there's also Pitbull's "Fireball".

Have you heard "I Love It" by Icona Pop? Featuring Charli XCX, whoever that is. Talk about a "I'm free from you, you tool" chick anthem. That's a song you have to sing really loud. I mean, you kinda have to yell it.

And then there is Fergie's new song, "LA Love"... which is a train wreck disaster, but I somehow still like it.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Finally... this is post number 12 in a series connected only by the fact they are consecutive posts.  Because I have a bad habit of setting a writing goal and then failing miserably, I decided to not mention it in a post until now.  Because I'm almost half way to goal of 31 posts, in a thing called #31DaysofWriting. 

You can see the tab up at the top there, click on that and see the random other stuff I've written.  Some of it is pretty good, some of it is just posted for the sake of having a post up--but its writing.

I liken it to not doing something for a while--playing tennis, or singing a loud sound like "I Love It" or running... if you don't do it for a while, you slip a little.  I took 6 weeks off.  And it took me several days to get back into it...

But I'm here.  And happy with it.   

under the skin: a scarjo movie review

My Scarlett Johansson fandom has come on recently, mostly from "The Avengers", but also because I think she's turned into quite a great actress. And yes, she's a looker.

So, I watched "Under the Skin" starring her and a bunch of other dudes you've never heard of, nor will ever hear from again. It's a science fiction sort of movie, with some suspense, and a van, and made in some foreign country, and a dude with a messed up face gets nekked and she's weird and...

...well, she like, is this chick who... uh...

...okay, so, she does her first nude scene in this film, and it's really weird because...

...what I mean by that is, she... I mean, what she does is...

...like...

...uh...

...this movie is perhaps the weirdest movie I have ever seen in my life.

I literally have nothing else to say about this movie.

this is where i leave you: book vs movie

It's rare that I can watch a movie, then read the book nearly immediately after, but I was able to do so with "This is Where I Leave You".

Written by Jonathan Tropper in 2009, the novel chronicles the Foxman family, who is forced to come together for a week of sitting "shiva"--a Jewish tradition where the family greets mourners for 7 days--when the patriarch of the family passes away.

 

The main protagonist of the story is Judd Foxman, third oldest of the four children in question, who finds his life simply falling apart when he discovers his wife in bed with Wade, his boss, a radio shock jock who show Judd produces.

Judd finds himself renting a shoddy room from an Asian couple, while still paying the mortgage on the house that his wife Jen and Wade are now living together in.

The cast also comprises of Wendy, the oldest of the children and only girl, who's husband is a business only executive and is starved for attention... Paul, the eldest brother, who stayed behind to help the now deceased father with an electrician business... and Phillip, the youngest, the wildest and considered the family screw up. Phillip seems like a good guy, but can't stay away from women and trouble.

The mom, Hillary, is the author of a parenting book from a way, way long time ago, who used her own children as examples in the book of dos and donts, of which all four kids suffered humiliation from classmates because of it. Across the street is Horry, an old flame of Wendy who suffered an accident some years ago, and has brain damage. Horry lives with his mom, Linda, who is very close to Hillary.

The spouses join the cast too.. Barry, the aforementioned hubby of Wendy, and Alice, Paul's wife, who is a bit flaky and is desperate to get pregnant. As for Phillip, well he shows up with his girlfriend, a mid-40s therapist knockout named Tracy. And finally, there is Penny, a close friend (with benefits) of Judd's from his teenage years, who still lives in town and who Judd develops an eye for.

Got all that? Good.

The cast of characters is marvelous. Tropper does a great job of giving each one their own distinct personality, their own sarcastic streaks and their own soft spots. As wise-cracking as Wendy is, she has a couple of deep, touching chats with her brother Judd, while Paul, seemingly the even keeled brother of the family, nearly comes unglued at the end due to several past and present incidents.

The book is filled with comedy--and language--and many heart warming moments as you can see the dysfunction of the family from the first few pages, as well as Judd's life completely falling apart one by one. His discovery of Jen, the wife, and Wade, the boss, in his own bed is one thing... how he reacts is both sad and hilarious at the same time.

The book is not one long plotline... there are several subplots along the way--how does Wendy really feel about Horry? Where does Linda fit into all of this? What extreme measure will Alice go to to have a baby?--but it flows nicely, and I found myself eager to get to the next chapter... and a day after finishing it, I kinda wished it had gone a little further.

The movie version has a steller cast... a bearded Jason Batemen is perfect for Judd Altman (changed from "Foxman"), as his body language and reactions are just as great as his vocals... Tina Fey plays Wendy, and though she seems a bit more sardonic and mean spirited in the book, I do love me some Tina Fey, so I was happy with it... Corey Stoll, a character actor in movies and some TV shows, takes on Paul, and does fine, while Adam Driver, who you might know from the HBO show "Girls" (I wouldn't know, because I don't watch it) but you may have heard about because he'll be a villian in Star Wars Episode VII, coming December 2015, is absolutely brilliant as Phillip.

Jane Fonda is nearly perfect as the oversexed mother of the clan, Hillary.  Then, bring in Connie Britton, who is gorgeous, as Phillips older, saddened lover Tracy, Timothy Olyphant as a quiet Horry, Dax Shepard as the very unlikable jerkface boss Wade, Kathryn Hahn as a subdued version of usual antics as Alice, and Rose Byrne as Penny, and you've got yourself a great cast.

Kathryn Hahn intrigues me, because in the movies I've enjoyed watching that she happens to be in, like "We're the Millers" or "Anchorman" or "Wanderlust", she's all over the place. She's loud, screechy, annoying and many times, dressed down or fluffed up where she's nearly unlikable. I've now seen two films, the very good "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and this film, where she is wonderfully loveable. I hope this continues. I like normal Kathryn Hahn.

And while my Hollywood girlfriend is Amy Adams (whom I'm in love with), if I ever decide to take my affections across the pond, I'm not sure who'd win between Emily Blunt or Rose Byrne for my affections. Just sayin.

Back to the film...

The book goes in directions that it's obvious the movie cannot go, hence it risk a very hard R, or even an NC-17 rating... that's not to say the book is dirty, but... Alice, who wants a baby so bad she can't stand it, does one thing in the movie to help her have a baby... and in the book, does that very thing, but ten times worse. Judd's reaction to finding Jen and Wade together, while both are upsetting, are markedly different between the book and the movie.

Plus, there is an entire subplot that outlines the chasm in the relationship between Paul and Judd in the book that the movie never even approaches... probably for time, but it's a great story told, and it gives you a little more understanding into both characters.

Overall, I loved the book. Loved the way it was written, loved the story it told and how it told it. I can tell you that I liked the Paul in the book better than the Paul in the movie, but I would have loved to have seen this cast performing the book itself. Tropper did write the script for the film, and did a fine job, but of course, the book has more.

Glad I read the book, may never read it again... glad I saw the movie, will probably watch it when it comes on Starz in Batement in July of 2015--I mean, Rose Byrne, Tina Fey and Kathryn Hahn? I say yes.

And soon enough, I just saw "Gone Girl", and I'm halfway thru the book (though I stopped it over a year ago, so I'll likely start at the beginning again)

all is not well

So according to this link, author JK Rowling is looking to do more Harry Potter. She tweeted on 10/6 “Cry, foe! Run amok! Fa awry! My want won’t tolerate this nonsense!” which itself is cryptic, but a fan from Reddit came up with the possiblitiy that the tweet could be an anagram, one that “Harry returns! Won’t say any details now! A week off. No comment.” would fit into.

Could this mean that Harry Potter will make a return? Could this mean that JK Rowling might write more books? Could this mean we could see the further adventures of Harry, Hermione, Ron, and my favorite literary redhead Ginny Weasley?

Dear goodness, I hope not. I really hope not.

The seven book Harry Potter saga is not a perfect story… there seems to be some contradiction and senseless actions that occur, born not of an incompetent writer, but more of a unknowing of where the story was going after the first book, “Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone.” It’s now stuff of legend that Rowling wrote the final chapter of the book on a napkin in some coffeehouse in England before she ever was published, and I’m sure she had an overall idea of how the story will flow, with details coming only as she wrote the pages.

But it is a beautiful story. A story of growing up, a story of power, a story of innocence, a story of childhood into adulthood, a story of awesome. It has a beginning. It has an end. It even has an epilogue to show us where they ended up 17 years later, with Harry and Ginny marrying and having three great, if unfortunately named, kids, while Hermione and Ron do their own nuptials.

All is well. That was the ending sentence. Harry Potter touched that scar on his head, the scar that pained him growing up, but hadn’t hurt him at all in 17 years. All was well.

That’s the perfect way to end the story…

But all is not well…

You see, JK Rowling wants to keep coming back to the well.

I didn’t actually have a problem with Rowling spilling a few more secrets… how Neville Longbottom ended up with Hannah Abbott, and he became the Herbology professor… how Hermione went back and finished her final year at Hogwarts, and how Ron and Harry ended up being Aurors… the later happenings of Dean Thomas and Luna Lovegood and a few others that we loved.

Heck, I didn’t even have an issue with her announcement that yes, Dumbledore was gay. I thought it was a stupid decision, not because I’m anti-gay, but because it made no sense to the story itself.

However, last year, it was decided that there would be a movie made from the book “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”. This title is actually a fictional book within the Harry Potter universe, one that is required reading for Harry and the gang, and naturally, it was written into real, physical form, along with “Quidditch Through the Ages” and “The Tales of Beedle the Bard”… each book is about 60 or 70 pages long, because honestly, how much can you glean from a few passing references in the Harry Potter series to make an entire book with?

There is now a “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” movie coming. Part of me thinks this is a terrible idea, worse than the new trend of Young Adult novels being made into films where the final book is made into two movies (see: Hunger Games, The… Series, Harry Potter… Divergent Series… and yes, The Maze Runner has similar plans)… you are stretching 64 pages into a feature length film?

Part of me warms to the idea a little… naturally, it will be set in the Hogwarts/Potter universe, likely with new characters, and because the setting is pre-Potter, it will probably only reference what we know from the books.

But bringing Harry Potter back for new stories? No. No. No.

Before you get all mad and declare that I'm just drinking the Hater-Aid that Pansy Parkenson probably made up in Potions class... I'm a huge Potter fan.  I've read all the books three times each, and am already starting to go through them for a fourth run.  I've written about Potter several times on this very blog, including a post about the final film... an open letter to "Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince" screenwriter Steve Kloves about what an abomination that film was... and my fourth post ever, when I didn't know what I was doing (hey?  who said "as opposed to now?") was the feeling you get when you finish one book and can't get the next one... So I'm a fan.  Back to the thought...

JK… it’s done. You’ve said it yourself, that Harry Potter’s tale is told. Anything now, and you run the risk of ruining that legacy (see: Lucas, George) and it will take a mighty miracle to get it back (see: Abrams, JJ). It might be marvelous… it might be a great new series of stories, maybe new characters will be introduced, and I’ll smile as my cute, sweet Ginny Weasley is re-introduced to the timeline and they’ll have great new adventures…

…but do we really want that?

I don't think we do.  I don't think you do.  You may think you do, but I don't think so.  There's no good that could come of it, sullying the Potter memories I have already.  Do we need to hear stories of a 29 year old Harry Potter and a 28 year old Ginny Weasley Potter running around battling bad guys?  Voldemort was the ultimate bad guy, so is Rowling going to give us the son of Voldemort, seeking revenge?  A bad guy worse that Voldemort, which would undermine the ultimate evil that we were told about for seven books? 

Or maybe each book is a one off, with Harry and Ron solving wizard crime, fighting a different bad guy in each book? 

I hate to say this... I really hate to say it... but I think its a power play.  Her other non-Potter novels have done okay, but as expected, none have come close to the soaring heights that the Hogwarts adventures achieved.  Perhaps she realizes that this, and maybe only this, is what will continue the cash flow.  She's already a bajilliontyaire, so I'm not sure it's all about the money--I think it has to do with control.  This is her world, and she can do what she wants.

Which is true.  But JK Rowling, you are in danger of ruining what we love and hold dear.  I can daresay that Harry Potter is no longer yours anymore... he belongs to us.  You have told a brilliant story, a wonderful story, a story that I can't wait for my own son to read, and in 100 years, they will still be reading, but the story of 10 year old Harry Potter to the 17 year old Harry Potter is done.

Create new worlds.  Create new characters with new adventures that tie into the Harry Potter universe.  But do not give us the further adventures of Harry Potter.  Please. 

the sneaky christians we are

"God, investigate my life, get all the facts first-hand. I'm an open book to you, even from a distance, you know what I'm thinking. You know when I leave, and when I get back, I'm never out of your sight." -- Psalm 139:1-2

It's boys night tonight, as The Lovely Steph Leann is out of town for a work trip. I went to pick up little Campbell Isaiah from the grandparents house, brought him home, we played in the floor for a bit, and I fed him some dinner. I just realized I had Moe's Southwest at 3pm, and hadn't eaten anything before or since... crap, I'm hungry.

That's not my point.

After dinner, we do a little settling down kind of period. He does play in the floor with his toys, and we tend to have a battle over what he considers "his toys"... the big doggy with colored buttons shaped like circles and triangles on the front that play music? His toy. The DVD remote? Not his toy. The xylophone that sits on the back of a cute, plastic tiger? His toy. My iphone? Not his toy.

I'll sit in the recliner and try to do a little work, make a few notes here and there, usually while I'm watching tv (tonight is Monday, so it was WWE Raw, where The Rock came back, beat up on Rusev while making a Putin joke to Lana and... you know what, never mind that...)

Anyway, from where the recliner sits, I can see most of the room, so I can watch him carefully. And Campbell, 2 and a 1/2, with the mental development of about a 10 month old at this point, sees me. And he plots.

In The Cabana, the recliner its next to the couch, which extends to the border of the living room and dining area. We have a small gate up, going from the side of the couch to the wall, blocking off the area behind the couch--that area leads you to our DVD shelf, and ultimately, the front door. The DVDs are a factor because Campbell likes to pull them out, then not knowing how to put them back, he drops them on the floor, suddenly disinterested. The front door is a factor because he likes to stand there and play with the blinds, which we are afraid he's going to break one day... so we keep him from back there.

In front of this gate, which is really just two pieces of that plastic fence you can by at BuyBuy Baby, Babies R Us and some pawn shops and bait stores, we have put a small table. This is his table to play on, and though it comes with chairs, the chairs are put away because he likes to climb on them. And stand on them. And yes, fall off of them. Not good times... bad times indeed.

Another thing to watch is how he'll slide our dining room chairs around. And then climb into them. And then he's able to reach what he wants on the table... he usually doesn't know what he wants on the table, but he figures "what the heck, I'll climb up and see what's mine for the taking..."

Tonight, I watched him out of the corner of my eye. And he watched me, not quite as subtle. When he thought I wasn't looking, I saw him in my peripheral, slide two dining room chairs out, slowly and quietly. Methodically.

He positioned the chairs where the seats would face each other, and then looked at me. Still keeping my face to the TV, but watching him, I saw him put one foot on the bottom of the chair and stretch as far as he could with his hand to grab the back of the chair to pull himself up.

"Campbell..." I said, evenly. He froze. Looked up at me, and then slowly put his foot down. I turned my face back to the tv, still watching him out of the corner of my eye. He tried it again, when he thought I wasn't looking. "Campbell!" I said a little louder. "DOWN"

This time, he hopped down and ran across the room, immediately pushing the big red ball he plays with. 

I then watched him make it way to the gate. He stood on the corner of the couch, also watching TV like I was. And then--no kidding--he slowly BACKED UP out of my sightline behind the couch. I could hear a slight scraping sounds as the table was slid out of the way. "Campbell!" I said, "Stop!"

In a flash, he pushed the table back in place quickly so it made a much louder sound, slid it into the gate and then ran to the middle of the floor. Busted.

And over the course of two hours, he tried both of these things a few times, each time I would catch him, and each time he would run away, pretending to do something else.

"You know everything I'm going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and you're there, then up ahead and you're there too, your reassuring presence, coming and going." Ps 139:3-5

There he is, the little boy... thinking I won't see him, when in fact, I can see everything he does. He thinks he's covering his tracks, he thinks he's carefully planning, he thinks that when he puts everything in place--moving the chairs just so, moving the table slightly out of the way to open up a back of the couch front door tressel run--he can pull off his deed without a hitch, and no one will know anything.

But I know. I see it. And it disappoints me to know that not only is he doing wrong, he's trying to hide it. He's trying to fool me. He's trying to make it so no one knows he ever did it... like I try to hide my own sin. Like I try to fool God. Like I have my best laid plans in front of me, thinking that I've covered all my bases, thinking that I've thought of everything, and if I move slow, if I'm careful, if I do it right, it will all be fine...

...and we know its not. Because God sees it. God knows it. We can't hide it. And better yet, we shouldn't hide it. We are sinners by nature, and saved by Grace. 

And sometimes I think God just looks at us, shakes His head, and says, "you think you are sneaky Christians, don't you?"

"Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about; see for yourself whether I've done anything wrong--then guide me on the road to eternal life" Ps 139:23-24 (The Message)

We are sneaky Christians. Sneaky Christians who never get away with it.